Apparatus for forming wooden scoops or shovels



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

G. VAN RIPER. APPARATUS FOR FORMING WOODEN SCOOPS 0R SHOVBLS.

- No. 390,725. Patented Oct. 9, 1888.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

G. VAN RIPBR. APPARATUS FOR FORMING WOODEN SCOOPS OR SHOVELS. No. 390,725.

. Patented Oct. 9, 1888. K Egg UNITE STATES PATENT rrrcn.

GEORGE VAN RIPER, OF ALBION, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

T. ROWVLANDS SONS, OF OHELTENHAM, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 390,725, dated October 9, 1888.

Application filed June 1, 1888. Serial No. 275,733. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE VAN RIPER, of Albion, county of Erie, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improved Apparatus for Forming WVooden Scoops or Shovels, of which the following is a true and exact description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

[0 My invention relates to the construction of apparatus whereby flat slabs of wood are formed into a scoop form to serve as the blade of a shovel or scoop. This forming of the blade has heretofore been accomplished by forcing the slab, after it has been prepared by steaming, between dies which bend it to the proper shape; but in the dies used prior to my invention the slab was subjected to certain injurious strains and was liable to split. These dies were also not entirely satisfactory in their forming action, and as the bent slab is in practice necessarily removed from the dies at once after being bent, it was liable to lose its form and be distorted in drying.

The object of my invention is to arrange the dies so that they will exert the greatest pressure on the slab in the lines where it is most required; to make the dies adjustable, sothat slabs of different sizes can be bent in them, 0 and to combine with the ordinary forming-dies a removable frame which,while not acting on the slab in the process of forming it into a sc0op,will so engage and hold it that it can be removed from the dies in the frame and be held 5 in the shape given it by the dies until sufficiently dry to be free from the tendency to lose its form or shape.

Reference being now had to the drawings which illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a 0 perspective view of the'upper forming-die; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the removable frame which fits between the dies; Fig. 3, a perspective view of the lower forming-die; Fig. 4, a side elevation of the dies in position;

5 Fig. 5, a central longitudinal cross-section of the dies and frame in the line y 3 of Fig. 6; Fig. 6, a cross-section on the line :0 a: of Fig. 5; Fig. 7, a perspective view of the adjustable forming-flange F of the upper die; Fig. 8, a

perspective view of the wooden slab used to form ascoop; Fig. 9, a similar view of the slab after it is formed in the dies, and Fig. 10 a view of the completed scoop-blade.

A indicates the lower and A the upper forming-dies, a being the forming-surface of die A, and a the forming-surface of die A. These dies are arranged in any convenient framing, so that when in operative position the space 0 will be left between a and a, and the die A is made movable by a hinge or oth- 6o erwise, so that it can be thrown up from die A to permit of the withdrawal of the slab after it is brought to shape. These dies, generally speaking, and their connections form no part of my invention, and need not therefore be further described.

B is my removable frame, made of two parts,

B and 13*, preferably hinged together at one end, as B, and provided with some locking device at their other end to hold the parts B and 13 together.

The part B of frame B is made up of a curved rim, 2), connected together by a bar,

I), the upper surfaces of the rim and bar conforming to the curvature of the diesurface a in the parts on which the edges of the slab will rest. One or more crossbars, I), should be formed with part B to strengthen the frame and coact with the part B as will be described. The upper surface of this bar or bars must also conform to the surface of the corresponding part of die-face a.

The part B of frame B is in shape similar to the part B-that is, itis made up of a curved rim, b, bar If, and crossbar I), the inner or lower surfaces of which must conform in shape to the curvature of the die-face a. The ends b of bar b and ends I) of bar b are prolonged and formed to serve as stops to prevent the parts B B fro m approaching too close together, no a hinged link or catch, b being provided at each end to lock the parts together.

The surface a of the die A is cut away at D,

D and D to admit the rim 1), bar I)", and crossbar b" of part B, the slots being of such 5 depth as to enable the part Bof frame B to be entirely below or flush with the die-face a. The surface a of die A is similarly cut away at E, E and E to admit the parts b, 12 and b of part B of frame 13, so that when the frame rco B is inserted in the die, as shown, it does not obstruct the forming-surfaces a a, but is virtually incorporated with them.

The blank J (see Fig. 8) is inserted at the end of the die and thrust up between the formingsurfaces a a, as is indicated in Figs. land 5. The die Ais then removed or thrown back, and the frame B, which now holds the slab bent to the form shown at J, Fig. 9, removed to a dryingroom, another frame being inserted in the dies before another blank is bent to shape. After the scoop is sufficiently dry and set the catches U are thrown back, the blank J removed from frame B, and then trimmed to form, as at J, Fig. 10.

The strains brought upon the frame B are very severe, and, as it is preferably of light construction, it is very liable to break under them. After many tests with different materialsI have concluded that malleable-iron eastings will be the best for use as parts 13 B of frame B.

To pass now to another feature of my invention, I would call attention to the fact that, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the slab or blank is square, and that the corners K K are not cut away until after the scoop is pressed to shape, these corners K serve an important purpose in the manufacture of the scoops. Along the sides of die A, I secure flanged plates F F, made vertically adjustable by means of slots f f, through which the bolts G G, which secure them to the die, pass. Lugs f f are formed on the plates F, so as to come beneath threaded lugs H H, extending out from die A, and setscrews I I pass through lugs H and rest on lugs f, to resist upward pressure and enable the position of the flanged plates to be adjusted at will. The corners KK of the blank J press against the flanged plates F as the slab is forced between the dies, and their action is to press the upper end of the slab down against the most curved portion of face a and to compress the wood along the said upper end. In this way they bring great pressure to bear just where it is needed to accomplish the greatest work, and they also relieve the strains which in the dies without the flanged plates F were found harmful.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an apparatus for forming the blades of wooden shovels, the combination, with the dies A A, of the adjustable flanged plates F F, secured on the edges of the fixed die A, so as to engage the upper corners of the blank and eompress the upper edge thereof as it is forced be tween the diefaces, all substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In an apparatus for forming the blades of wooden shovels, the combination of the dies A A and the removable frame 13, made up of the parts B and B, and formed so that the space between said parts willconform to the space between the die-faces, said dies A Abeing cut away to permit the frame to lie outside the forming-surfaces, so that in forcing the blank into the die it will be embraced by the frame B, all substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In an apparatus for forming the blades of wooden shovels, the combination, with the dies A A, of the adjustable flanged plates F Fand the frame B,'said dies being cut away to permit the frame to lie outside of the formingsurfaees, all substantially as and for the purpose described.

(lEO. VAN RIPER.

IVitnesses:

\VM. 1. HAYES, C. O. Bunch. 

